Effective Practices for Limited English Proficient Students

Foothill College Una Puerto al Exito

Outreach Division

12345 El Monte Road

Los Altos Hills, CA 94022

650-949-7713

Description: Una Puerta al
Exito is designed to increase recruitment and retention of Spanish
speaking students by using Spanish language materials to create a
better understanding of career options at the college.

Development of
Recruitment Materials:

This practice is designed for Spanish-speaking underserved high
school students and their parents. The college developed Spanish
marketing materials to use with potential students and their
parents. The materials were identified by determining which English
publications were most difficult to keep in stock. An ad hoc campus
committee was formed to make certain the materials were translated
appropriately. The translated materials were designed to be
succinct, and eye-catching. Materials were designed in-house and
printed off campus. The translated materials include:

• A striking 8 1/2 x 11 poster saying "Why Pay More? (Porque Pagar
Mas?)" compares the annual tuition costs of a local private
university, technical trade school, University of California campus,
and a California State University campus to costs at Foothill
College.

• Brochures detailing careers in Biological and Health Sciences, the
targeted areas of the activity. The brochure contains information on
the length of training, application requirements and any necessary
prerequisites, salary range, and the name and contact information of
the program director and affiliated counselor.

• Business cards were also printed in Spanish and a Spanish
information phone line was established.

Outreach
activities:

The college targeted their feeder high school with the highest
percentage of Spanish speaking students. Numerous activities were
designed to reach out to these students and their parents using the
translated materials. They included:

• Presentation at the high school's college night. Sessions in
Spanish were conducted for students and parents, and information was
available at tables.

• Presentations at high school club meetings, to the Spanish
Speaking Parents' Club, and a notice was placed in the school
newspaper.

•The project also contributed to a Foothill campus-wide event
entitled " Raza Day. " Students were bussed to the Foothill campus
for a morning event that included a campus tour, a career fair, and
a panel presentation featuring Latina graduates of Foothill College
who are working in fields for which they trained.. The panelists
included graduates in career fields nontraditional to their gender.
Career Program graduate panelists were given questions to answer for
their audience. Latino Heritage activities included lunch and
Mariachis.

Primary staff for the project were two staff members of Foothill's
Outreach and Retention office under the direction of the Dean of
Outreach and Retention. The Director of Tech Prep/Co-Op Education,
the career center coordinator and two Puente/Bridge counselors also
contributed to the project. (The latter included a second school at
Raza Day and provided a luncheon Latino speaker). The project used
VTEA special populations mini grant funds of $5000. Student
transportation and food costs for Raza Day were provided by Tech
Prep.

Success in recruiting students attending Raza Day was tracked by
asking students to complete name and contact cards. Those cards were
checked against Foothill enrollment for the following quarter.
Approximately 25% of students attending Raza Day registered at the
college. Another indicator of success was the enthusiastic reception
by the high school. A side benefit was that numerous parents of the
targeted students expressed interest in enrolling at the college.

Creating a strong relationship and getting buy-in from the feeder
high school is essential for replication. The more
inter-departmental cooperation and collaboration that can be
generated on campus, the more likely local Latino high school
students will be to register in high-wage, high-demand career
programs. Truly, a “door to success."

This website and all activities conducted by the Perkins 1B funded Statewide Leadership Collaborative for Special Populations Grant (17-0165) are funded
in part by the Chancellor's Office, California Community Colleges.